The global venture capital (VC) funding for the healthcare IT sector continued to be strong as deals worth $194 million were announced during the July-September quarter of 2012, says a report.
According to a report by Mercom Capital Group, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, VC funding for the third quarter of 2012 stood at $194 million through 37 transactions.
The healthcare IT sector is witnessing a strong uptrend since the third quarter of 2011 and this uptrend is continuing for five quarters in a row, according to Mercom.
Under VC funding, money is given by investors seeking private equity stake in start ups and SMEs with strong growth potential.
In Q3 2012, Health Information Management companies received the most funding as a technology group with $101 million in 20 deals, followed by mobile health companies with $39 million in seven deals and social health network companies with $26 million in four deals.
"Financial activity continues to be strong in the healthcare IT sector with a healthy number of early-stage deals," Mercom Capital Group Managing Partner Raj Prabhu said, adding that "mobile health and social health network companies had a strong showing this quarter".
The top funding deal this quarter was the $25.5 million raised by Telcare, a mobile health company that uses cellular machine-to-machine technology for diabetes and other chronic illnesses.
Other top deals included $20 million raised by Connecture, an online health insurance process automation company focused on health insurance exchanges, followed by $17 million raised by Doximity, a professional social network for physicians.
Moreover, the sector also witnessed continued strength in Mergers and Acquistion activity, providing investors and companies with plenty of viable exit strategies.
There were 37 M&A transactions in Q3 2012 amounting to $3.2 billion, of which only ten transactions disclosed details.
Among the top M&A transactions, Roper Industries acquired Sunquest Information Systems, a provider of diagnostic and laboratory software solutions to healthcare providers,
for $1.4 billion, the report said.
